[REVIEW] Dear Esther

Jonathan Tay

(PC [REVIEWED])

Dear thechineseroom,

What’s up with Dear Esther?

Dear Esther originally began as a free Source engine mod in 2008. In the four years that followed, the game was redeveloped, redesigned, and remastered for a commercial release.  

When I first heard about this game, I was excited. It sounded like Myst without all those bothersome puzzles: a true adventure game, where all you do is go around an island and explore from a first-person viewpoint, taking in the sights and sounds as you go.

Well, I got exactly that, and more, with Dear Esther. It wasn’t until I played the game that I realized what I had asked for. The review you’re reading at this very moment is probably the most challenging one I have ever written.  

That being said, let me get the easy stuff out of the way first. In terms of pure sensory experience, Dear Esther is a triumph. While the graphics and textures clearly don’t have billion dollar budgets behind them, the art direction and general aesthetic is excellent. The island, in all its flora, caves, and streams, looks beautiful. The level design is good and the terrain placement is great. I’m not going to lie: I found the world of Dear Esthermore pleasant to look at than that of Skyrim. A word that comes to mind when thinking of how the developers used the resources they had is “smart”.

The covers of these books are stained in the exact same places. Coincidence? I think not!

The game is great when it comes to sound, as well. I’m not just talking about the score – which already goes the extra mile in terms of setting the mood and ambience – but the sound effects, which truly bring the world to life. The crashing of waves on the shore…the wind blowing through the hills…footsteps on creaking wood…the steady drip of water from the ceiling in a cavern – all come together to immerse you into the world of Dear Esther. Seriously, play this in a quiet room with the sound turned up.

Of course, the big question now is, should you even play it at all? That’s…a hard question to answer. I’m not even sure if “play” is the right word. Dear Esther’s gameplay involves walking around, slightly zooming in with the left mouse button, and pressing the escape button to access the menu. That’s it. No running, no crouching, no jumping, no nothing. You have a flashlight, but you can’t even turn it on – the game does that for you.

If Alan Wake was the main protagonist of the game, he’d be dead at this point.

So, what’s the main point of the game? To explore. That’s it! There’s no fighting, no puzzle-solving, no horror aspects, and not even an open world. The game and its environments are divided into four chapters, each of which can be completed in twenty to thirty minutes each. As you walk around, you’ll hear the narrator deliver bits of the overarching, non-linear, minimalistic story to you. Some of his dialogue is randomized, warranting multiple playthroughs – I was still hearing new lines my third time through. Also, the narrator has a charming English accent. Another win for the audio in the game!

                                                                                                                                                                             

All things considered, would I call this game a good one? It depends on our definition of “good”. Are we to say that something “good” is something “fun”? Dear Esther is not fun, dear reader. By that same token, however, it’s not boring. I can say that I was always waiting for something to happen, yet I remained content when that something didn’t happen. At some point the game “ends”, but I wouldn’t really call it an “end”. There are also no real objectives, and you can’t really die.

This takes me back to chemistry class. *shudders*

Why would someone want to play this game? Well, I would say that the answer to that question is up to you, the player. If you want to explore a beautiful world and have an almost Zen-like experience, go right ahead. If you want to puzzle out the events of the story and its abstract themes, that’s fine too. If you want to challenge yourself on your definition of interactive entertainment and the elements that constitute a videogame, then you’re at the same place I am.   

It is here that I run into the problem of a score, for I have no idea how to assign one to a game like Dear Esther. Most games have gameplay that can be broken down and easily analyzed. Paradoxically, Dear Estherhas gameplay that is far simpler, yet a thousand times harder to process. Perhaps it’s easier to judge it as an experience, in which case I can safely say that it’s a unique one. It’s clear that Dear Esther doesn’t have universal appeal, but if you want to try something different, then by all means, make your Valentine’s Day an interesting one by buying this game. I’ll end this by telling you to ignore the score and focus on the text of the review (even though you should be doing that all the time!).

The question of whether or not to buy it must now be left to the consideration of the thoughtful reader.